Iris Love

I’ve had a love affair with irises for a long time. They are easy to grow, easy to trade, and their colorful blooms signal the end of spring and the promise of hot summer days to come. When my mom would come to visit in the spring, we’d visit the local iris nursery and appreciate the blooms scattered around my community garden. She especially loved the yellow ones growing in Millie’s plot. She LOVED it when I brought splits to her on my trips to Wisconsin. She lovingly planted them around her home and over time, amassed quite a collection of those yellow blooms! When she passed away last fall, her spirit came back to one of my sisters talking about yellow flowers and I knew that she wanted us to have her yellow irises. We dug them up and split them among her four daughters to grow in our gardens. I will always think of my mom when I enjoy the irises of spring!

After this afternoon’s sudden hailstorm – a relatively common spring occurrence in Denver, I rushed back to my community garden to check for damage to my newly planted tomatoes and was struck by the vast array of blooming irises all around. Despite the rain, I couldn’t help but walk around and take photos of the beautiful blooms. Here they are:

Deep purple and yellow in Brenda’s Garden. May 28, 2018

Two toned yellow in Carol’s garden.

Light pink irises in Carol’s Garden.

Carol’s garden

Jackie’s Garden

The Herb Garden

Millie and Theresa’s Garden

Charlie’s Garden

The south border next to the orchard and Brad’s Garden.

The east border along the fence.

I love how gardeners at Rosedale settle in and plant beautiful perennials for all the enjoy. After looking at all the possibilities, I would love to expend my collection and just might be offering to help people split their irises in the spring.

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About anaincolorado

Hi, I am an avid gardener both at home and at Rosedale Community Garden where I've had a plot for 19 years. I am very interested in learning more about gardening, how to preserve it, incorporating farm fresh produce into my cooking and living a healthy lifestyle. In addition, I am a Master Community Gardener through Denver Urban Gardens and am a shareholder at the Chatfield CSA. In 2015, I spearheaded an effort to start a community donation garden at St. Philip's Lutheran Church -- a project I will share on my blog. I am eager to share what I've learned and the adventures I had learning new things and interacting with the garden community.

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Hi, I am an avid gardener both at home and at Rosedale Community Garden where I've had a plot for 19 years. I am very interested in learning more about gardening, how to preserve it, incorporating farm fresh produce into my cooking and living a healthy lifestyle. In addition, I am a Master Community Gardener through Denver Urban Gardens and am a shareholder at the Chatfield CSA. In 2015, I spearheaded an effort to start a community donation garden at St. Philip's Lutheran Church -- a project I will share on my blog. I am eager to share what I've learned and the adventures I had learning new things and interacting with the garden community.